First off, At the Hive has an excellent extended recap of last night’s 104-107 loss to the Lakers. Why? Because he was there. I was not there, so I’m going to do some stats right now instead. Briefly, though. I had to DVR Battlestar Galactica to watch this game, and it is calling to me.

The Good: 1.) I loved the Hornets’ tenacity coming back from a 30-pt deficit. It reminded me why this team is so exciting to watch. 2.) I don’t think the game was decisive in a big way for either Kobe or CP3’s MVP chances. They both had big plays. They both had solid, not outstanding (for them), statistical nights. Those members of the media who would vote just based on this one game are idiots. Yes, Kobe’s team won. But here’s a little known fact: the Hornets have won games too this season. 55 of them, actually. I know, right? You weren’t aware?

The Bad: 1.) Hornets still lost a close one that I thought they were going to pull out. 2.) I was going to snark on ESPN here, but then I realized it was J.A. Adande who wrote it and the team the Hornets played was the Lakers, so I’m not even going to bother. See how well I learn there.

The Ugly: 1.) The first quarter. Lord, but it was ugly. I realize the Hornets are a second half team, but they cannot allow themselves to get behind like that in the playoffs. 2.) Hilton Armstrong. I like him, but it has to be said. He comes in for Tyson Chandler, and the first thing he does is drop the ball on what would have been a guaranteed 2 points if Tyson had caught the pass. Things did not get better from there.

And now on to the Hornets’ Magic Number. It’s 3.

• The Hornets need to win all three games left on the schedule to keep the #1 seed. This means beating Sacramento tonight on the second half of the back-to-back, the Clippers on Tuesday, and the Mavs in Dallas on Wednesday (this game was just picked up by ESPN yesterday).
• If the Hornets win 2 out of 3, they clinch the division title.
• Lakers are the closest, at 0.5 games back, after last night’s loss.
• San Antonio and Houston are 1.0 games back, but New Orleans has the tiebreaker on both.
• Since Phoenix lost last night, they can’t catch the Hornets for #1. This obviously makes statistical sense, because the Lakers clinched the division last night. New Orleans no longer holds the tiebreaker on L.A.
• Spurs play the Lakers Sunday. Gotta be watching this one closely.
• Playing the role of “We’re not making the playoffs but maybe we’ll destroy someone’s hopes” is the Sacramento Kings. Their remaining schedule? Get this: New Orleans, San Antonio, LA. Quite possibly, as the Kings go, so goes the race for #1.
• Hornets’ last game at Sacramento was a 103-112 loss, a.k.a. “The Game We Left a Perfectly Good Mardi Gras Parade Early For, Only To Find New Orleans Down 26 to a Shitty Team– WTF? I Missed Muses For This?” Possibly the low point of the season.
• I’m just throwing this out there: the Hornets dropping to the #2 seed would mean they’d avoid the 2nd round matchup with Utah, the only team in the West I don’t feel confident they could beat in a 7-game series.

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